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w. P. Rams-0N. l-mprovem'ent in Grain-DecortcatingMachines. N0. 128,912. f Patented July 9,1872.'

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llllllll/IIIlI/I/IlI/Ill, lill. n l llllvl ladera ,NITED STATES y FFI i i `WILLIAM rirr noeinson, orv nnrriitdfnnw vonk.-

iMPRovEMEN'i-m eRAsn-nscoe-'ricnrme MACHINES.

f Specification formingpart ofvv Letters Patent o, 128,912, dated July 9, i872.

Specification describing certainl Improve ments in Machines for Scouringand- Decortieating Grain and other Seeds, invented by W. Pirr4 ROBINSON, of the city ofButl-alo, in thev county of Erie and State of N ew York.

I will here premise generally the nature' and Object of one of such'machines'as'l hayemade my improvements upon. For instances/in my' Letters Patent forimprovement in 'grain-scour 1 ing machines dated J anu-ary 16, .1487 2, I have shown and described amachine fcdmposedof a suitable frame containing the operative parts,

and inside ofV thatis attached a vertical case or shell whose walls are thoroughly perforated with holes; and in the center of this case is .a vertical shaft, lwhich is to revolve upon a 'suitable adiustablebearin g upon its lower end, 4and aroundfthis yshaft is iixeda hollow cylinder, made ,of sheet metaland thoroughly perforated with holes,.or O f strong wire-cloth,

' whichrev'olves withthe shaft; and tothe out- Asideof this hollow cylinder, and at regular mterva are fastened a series of scouring or .abrading wheels having the general form of the body of a funnel or of an inverted truncated cone. These wheels are a little less in diameter than 'the interior of the perforated s'hell,-so that vthe seeds and grain thrown beyond their lperipheries will have room to fall down between them Vand the shell. These wheels Ina-y be made of rough metal or other hard material for rubbing and abrading the cuticle or hulls of such grains or seeds, or they may be made of any suitable material, so far as their bodies are concerned, and then 'coated on one or'both sides with einery, sand, or other like gritty substance or composition. Other 'plates or'hoppers of some similar general form,

and likewise roughened on )ne or both sides,

are fastened to the inner surface of the shell before mentioned, with ine same inclination, so as to be parallel to the revolving wheels, but they do not extend so low as to-touch the said hollow cylinder, so that an annular space is left between the cylinder and hopper forthe grain or seed to pass down through. Now,

these stationary hoppers and `revol\fin; wheels are so arranged that everyvrevolving wheel has one stationary hopper just above and. an other just below it, and every stationary hopper has one revolving wheel just above and ,just below it, except at the bottom and top of the series. Any fan or blowing apparatus is used to make a currentof air through the hollow cylinder .and out through its pertbrations,

it is thrown beyond and over its outer periphery, and then falls upon the next hopper below, and so on to the `bottom of the series. Now, the defects of this construction I have found to be, first, that the seed or grain may flow down over the stationary hopper too fast and in currents, and reach the annular opening too soon, and before they hare undergone suicientqmechanical action between and upon lthe stationary hoppers and revolving wheels;

second, the surface of the stationary hoppers vare likely to become incrust'ed with dust and trash, so as toV hinder the perfect a-brading action of the wheels and hoppers.

These defects I propose to remedy, as wellas improve otherwise such machines, by mypresent invention 5 the iirst part of which relates to the construction ofthe stationary hoppers without any coating on either the upper or lower surface, and in combination with the upper surface of concentric circular ridges or elevations in the form of trihedral prisms upon the upper surface of the same, one or more in number upon each, to control and regulate the inward ilow of the grain or seed and promote the equable spreading of the same over the surface. The second part of my invention relates to thoroughly perforating the entire body of such hoppers with holes as large as they may be without being large enough for such seed -and grain to pass through them. The use of these holes is to prevent such incrustation as before mentioned, and to allow the smut, dust, dirt, trash, or decorticated matter to pass through and away from the` grain just as fast as it'shall become disen gaged therefrom. They will alsopcrmit vertical jets and currents of airto'pass through the hoppers and throw such dirt, dust, and

trash-ont from among the grain, so that the ont'liowing currents may seize it and carry it out through the perforated shell. But for these two improvements some of the dirt and trash might escape, with the grain, through the machine; and, moreover, they greatly conduce to the thorough rolling and turning over of each individual grain, so that it may be acted upon by the abrading and scouring surfaces. 'Inc third part or' my invention relates to the construction of the revolving scouringwheels before mentioned in the saine form shown in my said patent, and coating the under side of the saine. with emery, sand, spar, or other gritty substance, in combination with the stationary hopper before mentioned, so that suoli under surfaces, as the wheel revolves, shall roll, abi-ade, and scour the seeds or grain as they pass down over the surfaces of the stationary hoppers. The fourth part of my invention relates to the construction of suoli scouring-wheels with a like coating of the saine material before mentioned upon their uppersides as well as upon the lower ones, in combination with the stationary hoppers described, to the end that While the grain and seeds are being winnowed, scattered, and thrown out beyond the peripheries of the wheels by their revolving motion they may also be scoured and decorticated by such upper surfaces. l

My wheels e.: beaters have no teeth-rims, projections, or-corrugations, but have plain though roughened surfaces, by reason of the described coatings merely.

1n the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a vertical central section of a. machine containing my said improvements. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the scouring-wheels, the hollow cylinder, and shaft. Fie. 3 is a vertical section, showing the stationary hoppcrs and revolving wheels in alittle differentforin from the above described.

l) indicates the perforated shell. B indicates the revolving wheels. C indicates the stationary' hoppers, and H the concentric ridges, and I the pcrforations; E, the hollow arranged substantially inthe manner cylinder; A, the shaft; al at, the bearings for the shaft, and Fthe blower. The stationary hoppers C may be made of sheet metal and perforated, but I think strong Wire-cloth will answer the purpose better; and the bodies of the revolving scouringwheels B may be made of any suitable material, and both the Wheels and hoppers, as well as the shaft A, hollow cylinder, and' shell D, may have the forms shown.

Claims.

What I claim as my inventiom'a-nd desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1'. The concentric ridges H, in. combination with the upper surface of the stationary hopper C, constructed substantially as and for thc purpose set forth and described.

' 2. 'The combination of the stationary hoppers C, provided with the concentric ridges H, and perforations I, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination of the scouring-wheels B, provided with a coating of emery, sand, spar, or other gritty substance upon the under side thereof, and the stationary hopper G, arranged substantiallyv in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination of the scouring-wheel B with a coating of emery, sand, spar, or other gritty substance on both the under and upper sides thereof', with the stationary hoppen-s C,

the purpose set forth. i

5. The combination of the stationary hopper C provided with concentric ridges H and perforations I with revolving scouring-Wheels B provided with a coating of emery, sand, spar, or other gritty substance, and having the shaft A, hollow cylinder E, arranged substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

NV. PITT ROBINSON.

Witnesses: l

H. R. SQUIER, R. H. STEVENS.

and for 

